What suburban areas would be the best locations to relocate a young family? (Pittsburgh: real estate, rental homes)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by speagles84

Ah okay. I'd suggest South Fayette, Marshall Township (North Allegheny SD), Peters Township (Washington County), Cecil Township (Washington County), and North Strabane (Washington County). All of those areas have new homes being built in the area in the 200-250k range. They are suburban but much more spread out than what has been mentioned so far. And they are all in good school districts!

Originally Posted by Hopes

The surrounding counties would be perfect for you then.

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

South fayette fits most of your criteria except for the boat. It is 20 mins to the airport, great schools, newer subdivisions and more being built. It is close to the city but yet last night I had a huge raccoon in my deck. We moved here last year and love it

I agree with all of this, although I'd concur with greg42 that moving to Cranberry Township (or points north or east) will extend your driving distance to the airport to the very top of your comfort zone. I think you'd like the South Fayette Township/Bridgeville area (in Allegheny County) or Canon-MacMillan (just over the county line). Cecil Township sounds like it would perfectly fit your needs, and from there you can easily take a day-trip down to Cheat Lake or a weekend excursion with the family to Deep Creek Lake.

[Copanut]

If you need to be close to the airport: Robinson, Moon, South Fayette, Sewickley, just to name a few.

[otter119]

The airport needs to be a minimum of 40-45 Minutes away. I will be utilizing it but not more than 2-3 times a month. So the trip to and from the airport is important, but not the top concern. Great schools, low crime, great neighborhoods (with similar aged families no super old communities), accessibility to the highways (preferably limited tunnels), family friendly amenities, etc.

My wife is a teacher and will be spending the summers with my boys (5 and 8). They like having parks, museums, water/ pool parks, sports, zoos, etc. close by for there summer entertainment.

Once again thanks for all your input.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by otter119

The airport needs to be a minimum of 40-45 Minutes away.

I think you mean maximum.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by speagles84

Ah okay. I'd suggest South Fayette, Marshall Township (North Allegheny SD), Peters Township (Washington County), Cecil Township (Washington County), and North Strabane (Washington County). All of those areas have new homes being built in the area in the 200-250k range. They are suburban but much more spread out than what has been mentioned so far. And they are all in good school districts!

Are they really building new ones that low? In Marshall I can't really imagine. The lots are big but they're mostly building stuff that's half a mil plus from what I can see.

In a lot of places (but not all) looking for a lot that's an acre or larger means you won't likely have as much of a neighborhood setting. You may have neighbors, but you might be on a through road, that sort of thing. Lots that large in a planned out development are rare in this area except for prices at more like 3x your price point. Can't think of anywhere there's a whole development of 1 acre lots with $250k houses. But certainly there are scattered $250k houses that have an acre or more of land. It could take some digging.

[otter119]

After reading my previous post, I was mistaken in my sizing. 3 acres would pretty much put me in a rural area or neighborhoods that are too spacious. My goal is to have a nice size yard with options for privacy. I currently live in a suburb that the house are lined up and down the streets with smaller lots. It makes for limited privacy as well as small yards. I apologize for being difficult.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by otter119

After reading my previous post, I was mistaken in my sizing. 3 acres would pretty much put me in a rural area or neighborhoods that are too spacious. My goal is to have a nice size yard with options for privacy. I currently live in a suburb that the house are lined up and down the streets with smaller lots. It makes for limited privacy as well as small yards. I apologize for being difficult.

It seems older housing plans have houses spaced further apart compared to newer housing developments. The other advantage to an older housing development is the landscaping is mature, which means there are already trees and bushes providing privacy.

[ex-burgher]

Originally Posted by otter119

My wife is a teacher and will be spending the summers with my boys (5 and 8). They like having parks, museums, water/ pool parks, sports, zoos, etc. close by for there summer entertainment.

For the Museum and Zoo portions, she'll be driving into the city of Pittsburgh - which has great museums and things to do for kids. Just a few of them are mentioned here:
Cool Things to Do with Kids in Pittsburgh

[greg42]

Mature landscaping is probably a better bet at privacy in that price range. It can be tough. I didn't want to be able to reach out and touch my neighbor either. My lot is 1/3 acre and now I kinda wish it weren't so big. It's fairly long and narrow so the houses on either side are close-ish.

It's not so much being difficult yourself as it is being difficult to actually find what you might want in this area. To a certain degree you may just have to look at properties in person and see. The photos will never tell you what you need to know about that, and while there will be a lot size in the listing, certain other aspects (landscaping, house orientation, hills, etc) will make some houses more private on the same size lot.

[okaydorothy]

Our lot is over an acre but it is very wooded and also very slopped. Last night we had a racoon on the deck, today we had a huge turkey.

Take a look at our school district. The campus makes a great environment and is great.